I'll always be here
by Kate-lyn89
Summary: Sequel to "You're Not Alone" Jade continues to uncover more about Tori's past. Which leads to some shocking discoveries. Hints of romance. Please read the first story, if you haven't already.
1. Chapter 1

"Ok, I'm here. Who did she terrify this time?" My mother says as she struts into Lane's office. She looks around and sees me.

"Hello Darling. Been behaving yourself, I hear?!" She smirks at me. I give her my most angelic smile. She rolls her eyes and sits down.

"Ms West, thank you from coming in." Lane says just as the door opens again. Senator Miles bursts in angrily, followed by a very pale Lola Miles.

"Who has been threatening my daughter?" Senator Miles demands, face red with anger. His eyes land on my mother and I and his face drains to a shade of white.

"Hello Bob" Mum says with a gleaming yet intimidating smile.

Bob clears his throat "Gina" He says while eyeing my mother nervously.

My mother, Gina West, the only person I know, more terrifying than me. She's a ruthless, powerful business woman and the CEO of her own company. She has a very commanding presence and her beauty is matched to no other. No man could ever compete with her in business or in life. She is, as they say, a real ball buster.

They sit down.

"Mr Miles, thank you for coming in." Lane begins again "We are all here this afternoon because it seems that Jade and Lola had a small altercation today."

"Altercation?" Lola screams "That demon threatened my life!"

"Calm down Lola, we will sort through this." Lane responses calmly.

"Lola, dear, if Jade is threatening your life, than you must have said or done something to have provoked her." Mum says to Lola. I remain quiet.

"My daughter would have done no such thing!" Bob yells.

"Calm down everyone!" Lane demands "Now, Lola, what did Jade say too you?"

She takes a deep breath "She came out of nowhere. All I was doing was just chatting to my friends and she came up screaming at me like a possessed maniac and told me if I didn't stop talking she would reenact The Scissoring on me!" She says in a thoroughly terrified voice.

Mum turns and looks at me smirking, I'm using all my acting power to not laugh at this point.

"Jade, is that what you said to Lola?" Lane asks as if he already knew the answer.

"Yes." I reply simply.

"See!" Bob points at me "See! She admits it! Call the police!" He screams.

"Mr Miles! I will call the police on you if you don't calm down." Lane says.

"Jade, why did you say that to Lola?" Lane says looking at me, clearing hoping I had a good excuse.

"She was running her mouth about Tori, Lane, and I felt the need to make sure she never uttered those foul words ever again." I say. Lane goes too say something when my mother interrupts.

"What did she say about Tori?" She asks with a frown.

"She said that she couldn't believe that they would let a no talent dyke like Tori into Hollywood Arts." I say with venom in my voice "And that people like her, are a disgusting mark on the schools reputation!" Lane looks at Lola with pure disgust. Lola rolls her eyes and crosses her arms, acting as if she's done nothing wrong.

"She said that about Tori? My Tori!" Mum says, I can hear the anger raising in her voice. My mother has become quite protective over Tori, since she met her a six weeks ago. After Trina's accident, Tori's nightmares became worse. So I had been spending a lot of time at her house or her at mine. Mum just fell in love with Tori and has insisted that Tori is now part of the family.

"Well, why shouldn't she be able to say that? I believe she is quite right. I can't believe you let people like _them _into this school." Bob remarks.

"How dare you!" Mum's voice became a low terrifying growl "You send your daughter to a performing arts school and you have a problem with gays?"

Bob's looks a little unnerved by the tone in mum's voice.

"Yes, we have a problem with gays! It's unnatural!" Lola yells waving her arms around. "We don't need those kind of _freaks_ at this school. They should all be thrown out!" Mum's attention shifts from Bob to Lola. One look from mum and Lola looks like she's going to wet herself.

"This is not the point. The point is, your daughter threaten the life of my Lola! I want some justice!" Bob demands finally finding his voice again.

"Oh Please Bob! If Jade wanted to reenact The Scissoring, she wouldn't waste her time on Lola!" Mum says dismissively.

"And what's that suppose to mean?" Lola asks angrily.

"Well, we all know the main character kills the 'pretty' girl." Mum responses with a nice sounding malice in her voice "And let's face it, you don't match that description, do you dear?" I smirk at the thoroughly offended look on both Bob and Lola's faces.

"Enough!" Lane yells "Ok, Jade, so you admit you said it to Lola, but the only reason you said it was because you just wanted her to stop the vicious taunts on Tori, yes?" He asks, clearly watching his wording so what I said didn't sound so bad.

"Yes, I thought I just a bit of a scare might stop her homophobic remarks." I reply.

"Although your intentions were, for once, good, I still have to punish you. You will receive two days detention" I nod at him "and Ms West, I'm sure you will enforce your own punishment, like always?"

"Yes of course." She waves her hand dismissively.

"Two days detention! Is that all the punishment this vile excuse for a human being is going to get for threatening my life?" Lola screams.

"Yes, because I know full well, that Jade wouldn't harm you unless needed too. I'm am fully aware her threat was not serious but as for you, we at Hollywood Arts do not take lightly to the discrimination of others. You have displayed some truly appalling behaviour this afternoon and I'm not going to take it lightly. You are suspended for a week for the disgusting remarks you have made against Tori Vega and all the homosexual students at Hollywood Arts." Lane says furiously.

"A week?" She's says as if she gasping for breath.

"And if I ever hear such horrible things from you again, you will no longer need to have an opinion of who you think is allowed at this school, do I make myself clear Miss Miles?" Lane finishes in a 'this is your final warning' kind of manner.

I have never seen Lane this angry and I've seen him angry tons of times.

"Yes Lane." Lola says in a meek voice.

"You'll be hearing from my Lawyers!" Bob exclaims at mum as he gets up too leave.

"No, I won't Bob." She responses calmly "Unless you want my companies financial backing next quarter, Senator!" She raises her eyebrow.

Bob's shoulders slump forward in defeat, he signals for his daughter to follow him as he walks out the door.

"Lane, a pleasure as always." Mum extends her hand out to Lane. He shakes it.

"Ms West, have a nice afternoon. And Jade, please behave yourself." He says pleadingly.

"I'll try!" I say as I follow mum out the door.

We get out into the hall.

"Reenact The Scissoring!? Where the hell do you come up with this stuff?" Mum laughs. She has always enjoyed my antics.

"Well, you know, I do like scissors!" I smirk.

"Jesus Jade, you're going to give me grey hairs." She laughs.

"What punishment am I getting this time?" I ask.

"Um, well..." She thinks for a moment "How about you go help your Aunt move house this weekend?"

My Aunt Prudence, was moving back to LA on the weekend. She's my dad's sister and I hadn't actually seen her in a long time.

"Is that all? Just helping Aunty Prue?" I ask.

"Yes, I believe that's fitting punishment." She says.

"Ok!" Feeling like I'm getting off way too lightly, but then again, mum does really hate Bob Miles.

"Are you staying at the Vega's house while I'm gone?" Mum asks.

"Yeah, I am. Are you flying out tonight?" I ask.

"Yes darling, I'll only be gone until Sunday. Can you survive 2 weeks without me?" She ruffles my hair. I laugh and swat her away.

"Yes mum, I'll be ok." We walk out the front doors, mum's car pulls around.

"So, tell me dear, when are you and Tori finally going to date?" She asks me for what seems like the millionth time.

"Mum, I told you. We haven't even discussed this yet. I think she needs to work on getting rid of some of her anxiety before she does anything else." I say seriously.

"Oh my dear girl, when did you become so caring? It's so unlike you." She smiles.

I roll my eyes "Yeah, yeah!" She laughs before pulling me into a big bear hug. Despite mum being away a lot for business, we have a very good relationship.

"I'll miss you Jade."

"I'll miss you too!" She pulls back and holds me at arms length.

"Please be good!" She says with an amused look on her face.

My angelic smile returns and flutter me eyelashes.

"Of course, Mother dear, I'm always good!" I say.

She shakes her head, and gets in the car. Waving from the window.

"I'll have your Aunt call you. I love you Darling!" the car pulls away.

-x-

I arrive at the Vega's house later than normal, thanks to my afternoon detention.

'_Detention, effective immediately._' I sigh '_Well at least I got off lightly_' I think.

"Jade! Where have you been? I couldn't find you after school!" Tori exclaims worriedly as I walk through the front door.

"Calm down Vega, I had detention."

"Detention?!" David asks walking down the stairs.

"Ahh, it's a long story, Mr V!" I say not sure how to tell him some bitch is roaming around bad mouthing his daughter just because of her sexual preference. Tori as looks at me concerned.

"Don't worry, it's fine." I say dismissively.

They both look at me sceptical.

"Jade!" David says with his cop face. '_God damn it! That face! Every time!_' I think. Suddenly Trina bursts in through the kitchen, practising her lines for her up coming movie. I take this opportunity to try and dash up the stairs, so I don't get interrogated but I wasn't quick enough. David catches me by the arm.

"Not so fast Jade!" He says "Trina, be quiet." Trina acts very offended.

"What happened Jade? Why'd you get detention?" Tori asks.

I sigh in defeat, shuffling out of David's grip.

"Fine, but you're not going to like it." I says gruffly, crossing my arms.

"What did you do?" Trina asks excitedly.

"I may have, sort of, threatened Lola Miles life." I say awkwardly, trying not to look at David's face.

I got three very different reactions, David sighed disappointingly "oh my god!" He whispers.

Tori gasped loudly covering her and Trina starts crying with laughter.

"Wait! What did she do?" Tori asks, knowing I don't normally threaten the lives of people unless I'm pretty pissed off.

"Ahhh... Well..." I didn't want tell Tori what Lola said. They all staring at me, waiting. I sigh and start to tell them the story, how Beck and I were walking to class and I overheard Lola talking about Tori. So I stormed up to her and grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and threaten her. Her scared face actually made the whole thing worth it. Once I finish, I look again at the three very different reactions I was getting. David, looked furious, I was unsure if it was at me or Lola, Tori looked like she was going to cry and Trina was gasping for breath because she was laughing so hard.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Trina starts, regaining some breath "You threatened to reenact The Scissoring on her?"

"Yes" she doubles over again laughing hysterically.

"She said these horrible things about Tori?" David asks in a forced calm voice.

"Yeah, I've never seen Lane so angry. She got suspended for a week!" I say as Trina squeals with joy.

"And you?" Tori asks.

"Two days detention and Mum's making me help my aunt move in this weekend."

"That's rather light punishment for life threatening!" David states.

"I know, but you should have heard the way her and her father were speaking about gay people. It was disgusting. I think Lane thought my actions were warranted."

"I really hate that family!" David says bitterly before walking back upstairs.

"OMG Jade! You have honestly made my day. I don't think I've ever laughed so hard." Trina remarks before bounding out onto the patio.

I look at Tori "I'm sorry, are you ok?" I ask tentatively.

"Oh... Yeah I'm fine. I'm going to start dinner." She solemnly walks off to the kitchen.

-x-

"Who the hell is ever going to use algebra outside of school?" I grumble to myself, looking at the homework in front of me. I had to stay up late doing homework, thanks to my detention and I was not happy about it. I started poking angrily at my note book before I hear Tori roll over in her sleep. She hadn't said much the whole night since I told them what happened today. I was a little concerned that Lola could have really gotten too her this time, Tori had enough to be dealing with at the moment and she didn't need the added stress. In the last week or so though, Tori's nightmares had gotten a bit better, I was hoping she didn't have one at all tonight. *phone alert tone

I look at my phone, it's from Beck.

'_**So, are you ever going to tell me wants going on with you and Tori?**_' -B

'_**Probably not.**_' -J

'_**Come on Jade, you basically attack Lola today. I know you's two are 'friends' now, but you guys have been acting really weird since Trina's accident.**_' -B

I ponder Beck's text. We had been acting weird. I have kept my word to Benji and the Vega family. I have not told anyone about Tori except for Lane, we told him after Trina's accident. He was now they only other person who knew, but our friends were starting to wonder what's going on, since we stay over each other's house most nights. That certainly would not have happened before. I'm alerted to my phone.

'_**Jade! What's going on?**_' -B

_'__**Doing homework. Can't talk!**_' -J

I put my phone down when a hear an all too familiar sound. I swing the desk chair around and see Tori start to toss in her sleep.

I frown '_Will these things ever give her a break!?_' I think sadly to myself.

"Where's Mamá?" She asks. I get up and sit beside her.

"Where are they taking her?" She's asks more aggressively "No, where are they taking her?" 'This is new.' I think, I'd never heard Tori say these things in her sleep before.

"Tori, wake up. It's just a dream." I start to gently nudge her.

"Mamá where are you?" Tori yells, her own voice jolting her awake. She looks up at me and sighs sadly.

"Sorry."

"It's alright. Are you ok?" I ask.

"Yeah I guess. I'm just getting sick of the nightmares."

"Do you want to talk about it?" I ask quietly. Up until this point, I could only surmise what the nightmares were about. Tori never spoke about them. I always tried to talk about something else to get her mind off of them. But tonight, they were different.

She sits up, and pulls her knees to her chest.

"Your nightmare was different tonight, wasn't it?" I ask.

She nods but stays quiet.

"Do you want to talk about what happened that night?" I ask.

She looks down, she's quiet for a few moments. I figured she didn't want to talk about it but eventually she nods her head. It takes her a few moments before she begins.

"We went out for dinner that night, too celebrate." She starts. I look up at her, giving her my full attention.

"Mamá had just got signed to a record label, she was so excited. Things were finally starting to look up for us. Mamá's best friend from college, Victoria, took us out for dinner to celebrate. It was such a fun night. Lots of food and music. We danced and laughed most of the night." She pauses thoughtfully "But I remember that a huge storm hit half way through the night. I was a little scared, Mamá and Aunty Vic, told me not to be afraid." She stops again and takes a deep breath.

"When the night was over, we said goodbye to Aunty Vic in the restaurant before running out into the rain to the car to go home. I told Mamá I was still scared of the storm so she started singing in the car, to help me feel better. We were just happily singing together, but about five minutes into the ride, we suddenly saw headlights." Tori's voice starts to break a little.

"It all happened so quickly. I remember her screams... the screeching tires... the crumbling metal...and the lights, the lights were so bright and then no..nothing. It all went black after that." Little tears start to run down her face. I'm struggling not to cry.

"The next thing I know, I was being pulled out of the car and put into an ambulance to be treated. I could hear crying and screaming off in the distance. I could hear the rain and the thunder. I was so scared. I started hearing my name being screamed. I got up off the stretcher and pushed open the ambulance doors thinking it was Mamá but it wasn't. I saw Aunty Vic being restrained by police officers as she tries to fight her way to me. I jumped out into the rain and tried to run to her but the ambulance people stopped me. But they eventually let her through to me. She looked so scared, I asked her where Mamá was." Tori pauses again. Trying to calm herself so she can continue.

"She started crying, I couldn't understand why...why was she crying. I just kept asking her "Where's Mamá?". I kept looking frantically around for her, I couldn't understand why nobody would tell me where she was." Her voice starts to shake badly "But then, I spotted her, near the wrecked cars, being gently carried to a blue bag." At this point, I couldn't hold my tears any longer. Imagining, little Tori seeing her mum being put into a body bag, was one of the most heart wrenching things I could ever think of.

"I started screaming, trying to get to her, but Aunty Vic held me back, crying. I didn't understand. I just didn't understand..." Her voice trails off into full sobs. She could no longer continue and I didn't want her too. I grab her and hold her as tight as I could, trying to take the pain away.

-x-

**Friday night**

It had been a really long week, with detention, Tori's nightmares and Beck's continual pestering. I was so ready for a long sleep before my long day of moving tomorrow. Tori had been sleeping better since the other night. I had a feeling she'd never told that story to anyone before. Although, she cried herself to sleep, she said she was feeling a lot better in the morning.

It was around 1am when I woke up to find Tori missing from the bed. I sit up quickly, looking around. She was sitting at her desk.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I ask her.

She turns the chair around and I see her holding the small photo frame that holds her mum's picture.

"I just miss her." She says quietly. I nod understandingly.

"This is the only picture I have." She says sadly.

"How come?"

"After she died, I became a ward of the state, because Mamá had no will and had no other family. So all of our possessions were seized and sold off to cover funeral expenses and any remaining debts."

"That's terrible." I frown, she nods agreeingly.

I watch her gaze at the photo.

"You look exactly like her, you know." I say.

She looks up and smiles "Thanks Jade. My Aunty Vic gave me this, when I was at the orphanage."

"Why couldn't you go with her?" I asks confused.

"They wouldn't let me. She wasn't actual family. Although she tried to adopt me, they refused her." She says sadly.

"Why?"

"Because she wasn't married."

"That's stupid!" I say angrily.

Tori shrugged "It was the orphanage's rules. I haven't seen her since though. She wasn't allowed to see me after that last visit."

"What! Why?"

"They wouldn't tell me." She hangs her sadly.

"Are you named after her?" I ask.

"Yeah, Mamá and her were best friends in college. They were more like sisters though. They even had these silly gold necklaces with lockets on them, that had each other's picture in them." she shows me the photo and points to the necklace. It was a long gold chain, with a gold locket the had a crescent moon on it. Something about it seemed familiar.

She takes one last look at the photo before gently setting it down on the desk. She gets up and crawls back into bed. She cuddles up too me.

"You're so good to me Jade."

"Well, I have a lot to make up for." Referring to all the mean things I did to her.

She giggles "Still, I don't know what I did to deserve this side of Jade West."

After all this time, she still thinks she's not good enough.

"Tori, you deserved this side of me a very long time ago. I'm sorry I took so long to see that."

She pops her head up a bit and looks at me thoughtfully.

"You know, I really like you Tori." I say.

"Really?" She looks shocked.

I laugh at her "Why is that so shocking?"

"I don't know! I mean know we've gotten close over the last few months. But I just thought that I wouldn't be..." Her voice trails off but I know exactly what she was going to say.

"Tori why do you think you wouldn't be good enough for me?" I ask slightly exasperated.

"I...well... You know..." She stutters out.

"No I don't know. I don't understand."

"You come from such a wealthy family and I'm just an... orphan." She says very quietly.

"That's what this is about? Tori, just because someone is wealthy does not make them someone of value. Come on, you know very well that I'm generally a pretty unpleasant person, and look at Lola, her family is rich and she's a horrible person." She stares at me listening.

"And Tori, you were an orphan. You now have an amazing family that loves you. Not mention you are the most awesome, kindest, most talented person I know. You just radiate sunshine when you smile and you are the best friend anyone could ask for, even if they didn't want one" I wink at her "That is what makes up the value of a person. Not by how much money they have. If anything, you are way to good for me!" I finish.

"Jade.." She has tears in her eyes, but I feel like these ones are happy tears "That's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me." She leans in slowly and gently kisses me. It was so soft and simple yet the feelings that exploded from inside me were huge. I had never felt such a surge of emotion for anyone before. She pulls back and rest her forehead on mine.

"Don't ever think you're not good enough, I could never ask for anyone more amazing then you to be in my life Tori. Please don't ever forget that." I say honestly.

Tori beams her thousand watt smile before hugging me really tightly.

"And I swear if we don't start dating soon, mum is going to reenact The Scissoring on me." I say seriously. Tori giggles into my shoulder.

"As much as I know you'd love that, I wouldn't want that." She says. I laugh, she knows me too well.

We lay in comfortable silence. Everything feels right with Tori. I know that I never wanted to be without her. *phone alert tone

It startled both of us, I pick up the phone to see a msg from my mum, it seems she could read my thoughts.

'_**Darling, I was having trouble sleeping because of this silly merger. So, I starting thinking about how you and Tori should get married one day and I found this dress on the online that I think you should wear. Just a thought. I love you Jade**_' -Mum

She has a habit of sending me random things at all hours of the night because she doesn't sleep well but this one takes the cake.

"Who is texting you at 1 in the morning?"

I sigh slightly amused "Mum. She couldn't sleep, so she found a wedding dress that she thinks I should wear when we get married!"

Tori starts laughing "OMG are you serious?"

I show her the attached picture of a vintage lace gown with black accents. She continues to laugh.

"It's really pretty. I can't believe your mum wants you to marry me. We haven't even finished high school." She says bewildered.

"And we're not even officially dating." Thinking that was the weirder reason.

Tori laughs again "I love your mum."

"She loves you too and I think she's dead serious about us getting married. She's asked me like a million times when we were going to start dating. She likes you way more than she ever liked Beck."

"Well, if Gina is planing the wedding, we better start dating then." Tori says seriously.

"Are you sure? I mean, you know she's only joking!" She's nods happily. I lean in and kiss her. The explosion erupts inside me again. *phone alert tone

I look at my phone "Oh, she's not joking. She found one for you too!" We both break out into hysterical laughter.

-x-

**Saturday Morning**

I pull up to my Aunty's new house. It was huge with big white iron gates at the front and long swiping lawns. I wondered why someone who lives alone would need such space but then again, she's a West. Most of the West's were a little odd. For example, me. I see Aunty Prue walking out of the house. I hadn't seen her in a very long time. She hadn't changed a bit. She had very similar features to me, long dark hair, pale skin and big boobs. We just had different facial features. I looked exactly like mum in the face.

"Jadey!" She screams as she runs up too me, scooping me up into her arms.

"Hey Aunty Prue!" Feeling a little awkward at this sudden contact.

"Let me look at you." She puts me at arms length "Oh, you're so beautiful" she gushes pulling me back into a hug.

"It's really good to see you" I say trying to escape her grasp.

"I know it's been such a long time. I'm sorry. I've missed you so much." She says. She gestures me inside. The house was just as grand inside as it was outside. Rich colours on the walls and gorgeous furniture filled every space.

"Ahh, it looks like your already done with the move." I say looking at the completed house.

She laughs "Yes mostly, your mum didn't really want to punish you. She told me how proud she was of you when you stuck up for your friend. What a nasty piece of scum that Miles girl sounds like!"

"She looks as nasty as she sounds!" I say spitefully, referring to her plastic face and fake hair.

She laughs and claps her hands together "Oh, you're just as feisty as you were when you were a kid."

I smile at her. She was right. I hadn't really changed much.

"So did you want hang out or do you need any help with anything or..." I say looking around.

"Well, yes there is something I need your help with and then I just want to spend the rest of the day catching up with you." She replies.

"Ok that sounds great. Shall we get started?" I ask.

It turns out the thing she need help with was just unpacking her boxes of random trinkets she's gathered from all over the world. My Aunt left when I was about seven. She just suddenly packed up one day and went traveling around the world, only coming back for the occasional Christmas. It had been four years since the last visit. I was actually pretty happy she was back to stay.

After about two hours, we had gotten down to the last box.

"Honey, can you take those empty boxes downstairs?" She asks.

"Ok."

"And then how about we have lunch?" She smiles.

"Sounds great." I was pretty starving.

I gather the boxes and make my way down the endless hall. Passing so many rooms on my way. Most of the doors were opened, so I peered into them on my way past. They were all done up with furniture from Aunty Prue's travels. As I continue on, I look into one room. It was full of boxes, they all had the initials 'R.G' on them. I frown '_that's weird_', but I keep walking.

After lunch, we started talking about her travels. Her stories were amazing. The things she got up too, the West's would certainly not have approved of.

"Well, we only have the room next to the one we just did to do and we are done kiddo." She says happily.

"Ok, sounds great!"

We make our way back upstairs and back down the hall. I was about halfway through my second box when I spot another box on the ground with the initials 'R.G' on the side. I stop and walk up to it. My Aunty catches me before I open it.

"Oh Jade, that ones just for storage. Can you just take it down to the second room from the stairs?" She's asks.

"Yeah sure."

"Don't be long" I hear after me.

I walk into the room full of these mystery boxes. I kind of got the feeling my Aunt didn't want me to open the box, but curiosity got the better of me. I open the box. It was full of children's clothes. '_That's super weird_' I think knowing my Aunt has no children. Then I spot a picture frame tucked down the side of the box, I pull it out. It was a picture of two little girls, one I recognise as me. I continue to look at the picture, the other little girl looks so familiar, I couldn't quite put my finger on it. She was tanned, with long brown hair and a thousand watt smile.

"Oh. My. God." I pull the frame closer to my face to get a better look "Tori?"

This couldn't be. I'd never met Tori as a child.

I was so caught up looking at the picture, I didn't hear Aunty Prue come in.

"Jade, what are you doing?" She asks.

"Aunty Prue, what is this?" I ask extremely confused. She takes the frame and looks at it then starts to smile.

"Oh, this is you with my best friend's daughter. You were just about to turn six. I was baby sitting you that day, and they came to visit. It took you a little while to warm up to her but by the end of the day it was hard to keep you's two apart." She says continuing to smile. I watch her, noticing she was subconsciously playing with her necklace. It was a gold locket, with a crescent moon on it.

'_OMG. That can't be the same necklace as Tori's mums._' I think. '_Tori's Aunty Victoria was her mum's best friend._' Then it dawned on me, my Aunt's middle name was...

"Aunty Prue? Isn't your middle name Victoria?" I ask, afraid of what the answer might be.

"Yeah honey, why?" She says confused. My eyes widen in shock.

I look around at all the boxes. 'R.G', it couldn't be, could it?

"Rosa Gracía." I whisper to myself.

"What did you say?" I turn and look at my Aunt. All the colour had drained from her face.

"You're Aunty Vic? Aren't you?" I ask trying to make sense of all of this.

"What did you call me? Nobody calls me that except..."

"Tori!" We say at the same time.

She's stand there, clearly as shocked as I am. How on earth am I going to explain this to Tori?

"You know Tori Gracía?" Aunty Prue asks breathlessly.

I nod my head, unsure of what to make of all this. My Aunt's eyes start to well up with tears, she clutches the photo frame to her chest and falls to her knees.

"OMG, I never thought I'd see little Tori Gracía again." She whispers to herself.

"Her name is Tori Vega now." Suddenly finding my voice.

She looks at me, clearly just as confused about this situation as I was.

"How do you know her?" She asks me.

"We go to school together." I answer.

"Are you guys close?"

"You could say that." I say "Can you explain all of this? I'm really confused." I sit down in front of her.

She nods and hands me back the photo frame. It takes a few moments for her to start.

"When I finished high school, I disappointed my parents by choosing to study music at college instead of business, like your dad. It was a bold move, but I loved singing and music. I was so nervous the first day, hoping I hadn't made the biggest mistake of my life. But it all vanished when I met my roommate, Rosa. She was there on scholarship. She was so full of life. I was immediately taken with her. Within weeks we were best friends, nobody ever saw one of us without the other. That's how it always was."

"About a year after college, Rosa fell pregnant. She was so scared. She had no family left. She had been an only child and her parents had died a few years before. I promised her I'd be there every step of the way. This woman had become my sister, my family. She never judged me, she only saw the good in people." I smile at those last words, that's exactly how Tori is.

"When she gave birth, I was right there. I never left her. I was so surprise she named her baby girl after me. I was so honoured." Aunty Prue starts to get a little teary.

"As time went on, I watched both my little nieces grow up." Pointing to me "Both as beautiful as the other. You's two met a week before your sixth birthday, I was baby sitting you because your parents were going through their divorce. It was the settlement day. I thought that it might have been nice to have some company to take your mind off things. So Rosa and Tori came around, but you were being your 'stick in the mud' self and wouldn't play with Tori. She tried so hard most of the day to be your friend." She smiles fondly. '_Old habits die hard_' I smirk to myself.

"But by the end of the day, you's two were the best of friends, but... It would be the first and only time you met Rosa. The accident was a couple weeks after that day." She says sadly. I was still a little confused by something.

"If Rosa named Tori after you, why didn't she call her Prudence?" I ask.

"I went by Victoria in college, too distance myself from the West's. Rosa knew my real name but always called me Vic." She explains. We sit silently for a few moments.

"How is Tori? What's she like?" She asks.

"Why don't you come see her?" I respond.

"Jade, I don't think Tori would ever want to see me again." She says sadly.

"What do you mean?"

"She probably feels like I abandoned her at the orphanage" She hangs her head.

"I think you need to talk to her." I say getting up. I hold my hand out to my Aunt.

She looks apprehensive "Are you sure? I've been wanting to find to her for years."

I nod, she takes my hand.

-x-

_'__**Vega, where are you?**_' -J

'_**Out with Benji. How's the moving going?**_' -T

'_**To be honest, it's been weird. I need to talk with you, now. I'll meet you at yours.**_' -J

'_**What's the problem? You're not having second thoughts about us are you?**_' -T

'_**Tori, I'd never have second thoughts, ever. Please, this is important. I'll be there in 20 minutes**_' -J

'_**Ok...**_' -T

We arrive at the Vega's house, I was very nervous. I couldn't imagine how my Aunt was feeling. I look over at her, she's shaking and looking very pale.

"Stop worrying." I say.

"What if she doesn't want to talk to me? What if she hates me?" She asks.

"Tori's not like that. But I will warn you, she looks a lot like Rosa. Like, almost identical."

"Really?" She says in a whisper.

I nod "I'm going to go in first, I think I better explain a few things first."

I get out and walk into the house, clutching the picture frame. Tori is sitting on the lounge looking very nervous.

"Jade!"

"Hey Tori." I go sit next to her.

"What's going on? What's wrong?" She asks worriedly.

"Nothing's wrong exactly. It's just..." I take a deep breath, I hand her the picture frame.

"Do you recognise this?" I ask quietly.

She takes it in her hand and looks at it rather confused. Her eyes immediately fall on the little girl version of her.

"This is me!" She says rather surprised.

"Do you recognise the other little girl?" I ask.

She gives the picture another hard look. I can see the wheels turning in her brain. I watch her closely, her eyes widen and her hands start to shake.

"But... But... That's you..." She looks at me even more confused. I nod at her.

"How is this possible? We had never met before I went to Hollywood Arts." She asks rather perplexed.

"We met once, a few weeks before the accident. You went to visit your Aunty Vic one day with your mum." I begin.

She furrows her brows, as if trying to remember.

"Yeah, we went to a really big house, and there was a rather sour little girl there." She says screwing up her face while remembering.

I clear my throat, she opens her eyes "OMG, that was you!"

"Apparently. Did you know that Victoria isn't your Aunty Vic's first name?"

"Oh yeah" Furrowing her brows again wondering how I knew that "Mamá said her first name was something odd... Like...Prudence..." She looks up at me and gasps.

"Your Aunt Prudence is my Aunty Vic?" Her hands cover her mouth.

I nod at her "I still don't understand it all myself but she would really like to see you, if that's ok?"

"She's here?" Her eyes widen.

"Outside. If you're not ready or if you don't..." Tori interrupts me.

"She really wants to see me?" Her eyes start to well up with tears. I pull her into a hug.

"Yeah she does Tori."

"I thought I'd never see her again" She whispers.

"Do you want me to go get her?" I ask pulling back. She nods.

I get up and open the front door. I wave to Aunty Prue. She looks more nervous then she did before. She walks into the house.

"Tori..?" Aunty Prue says on verge of tears. Tori puts the frame down and stands.

"Aunty Vic..." She rushes over and hugs her, relief floods my Aunts face.

"I never thought I'd see you again, I've missed you so much." Tori says beginning to cry.

Both of them succumbing to tears, they just continue to hug each other.

-x-

After everybody had calmed down, we all sat down to talk. There were still a lot of unanswered questions.

"Why did the nuns stop you from seeing me?" Tori asks.

"How did you know they stopped me?" Aunty Prue asks.

"Benji and I saw them dragging you away one afternoon." She replies sadly.

"Tori, it was all very complicated, things were very different back then. People were not as accepting."

"Accepting?" I query.

Aunty Prue sighs "I probably should start at the beginning so you don't get the wrong idea."

She takes a deep breath "The night of the accident, it was raining so badly. One of the worst rain storms to hit LA in years. I remember how scared you were, Tori. After I said goodbye to you's, I stayed in the restaurant for a little while longer. I was paying for the check, when I saw ambulances, police cars and a fire engine race past the restaurant. They were heading in the same direction you's went. I instantly had a horrible feeling. I raced outside into the pouring rain and jumped in my car and followed the emergency vehicles. It wasn't long before I reached the final destination. What I was presented with was the most horrific scene I have ever witnessed." The horror of the memory was present on her face. It hurt just seeing it. I look at Tori, she looks extremely pale.

"I recognised your mothers car immediately. I started screaming out for the both of you. I tried running over but everything was taped off. I was stopped by some policemen, I told them I knew the people in one of the cars." Aunty Prue's voice begins to crack a bit.

"Their expressions suddenly became very grave. I asked them repeatedly if both of you were ok. They wouldn't answer me. I then spotted you being put into an ambulance. Before they knew it I had ducked under the tape and started running towards the ambulance, screaming for you. They caught me and started dragging me back. But you heard me... You heard me.. " She stops for a moment as tears begin to travel down her face. I take Tori's hand, she squeezes it. I can't imagine how hard it must be for her to hear this.

"That night was so horrible, the things you saw... It should not have ever happened." I noticed she skipped over the more horrific details of that night. I was glad, Tori didn't need to re-live them again. My Aunt continues "I accompanied you to the hospital that night. I stayed with you to make sure you were ok."

"You did?" Tori asks "I don't remember you there"

Aunty Prue sighs "I wouldn't expect you too, you out of it most of the time. But about ten hours after you got there, a social worker came by. She ask who I was, once she realised I wasn't actual family, that was it. I had to go."

"What?!" I burst out angrily "They made you leave Tori all by herself. She was just a little girl."

She nods at me sadly "That's how things were Jade. I didn't want to leave, I ended up being arrested."

"What!?" Both Tori and I say in unison.

"I told her I wasn't leaving you, so she called security and well, let's just say I did something's that got me arrested." I could only image what my Aunt did. She is a lot like me, so it probably involved a lot of damage to the hospital.

"After you were placed in the orphanage, I went there immediately. The nuns were unsure whether to let me in or not but you were so sad, so they allowed it. I wanted to take you with me right then and there. So, after my visit I walked out and asked to adopt you. Unfortunately, my request was denied." She says, her voice sounding more miserable as her story went on.

"Because you weren't married!" Tori states.

Aunty Prue nods again "Back then, only married heterosexual couples were allowed to adopt."

"That's stupid." I grumble.

"I agree kiddo, but nothing I could did could of change it. Old Bob Miles saw to that." She replies sourly.

"Bob Miles! What does he have to do with this?" I ask.

"Well, before he became a senator, he worked in the department that overlooked government funded orphanages. In fact he was the head of that department. He's a quite old fashioned guy, old Bob, and he hates the West family too. So he denied my request every time."

Tori looked quite thoroughly shocked by all this new information. I, on the other hand was rather appalled and angry.

I stood up "So you're telling me, that Bob Miles saw to it that Tori wasn't adopted by someone who knew and loved her?" My voice shaking from anger. All my Aunt could do was nod.

"Jade please calm down." Tori tugs at my hand and pull me back down.

"I tried coming to see you Tori, all the time. But once my requests were denied, the nuns thought it wouldn't be a good idea to let me see you. They didn't want to get your hopes up. They usually had to drag me off the property. I tried so hard, I really did. I place over 500 adoption requests. I only stopped when I found out that you had been adopted." She says sadly.

"I was so broken hearted. I'd lost my best friend and now I had lost you. The only thing I had was all of your stuff. Which broke my heart to look at everyday."

"My stuff?" Tori looked confused.

"When your stuff was being sold off, I walked in and place an offer on the entire lot. An offer they could never refuse. I have everything. I used to look at all your pictures, of you and your mother. I couldn't take it anymore, I could bare being here anymore, not without either of you. So I packed up and left." She finishes.

We were silent for a really long time. I look at Tori, she was staring at the floor, clearly trying to take it all in. I squeeze her hand, she squeezes back.

"You really cared about my mother didn't you?" She begins.

"I did Tori, she was my best friend, my family. I would have done anything for her and for you." Aunty Prue replies.

"Did you try to find me? You know, after I was adopted." She asks tentatively.

"Yes, I did. Every time I came back home, I spent an entire month trying to find you. I always came back with nothing." She says rather sadly.

"But you've found me now." Tori says with a small smile. My Aunt eyes start to well up with tears.

"Yes I have. I have you back in my life.." She grabs Tori giving her a hug "I have both of you" grabbing me as well. She hugs us tightly. Eventually she pulls back. She pulls something out of her pocket. It's Rosa's necklace. Aunty Prue puts it around Tori's neck.

"You look so much like your Mother, Tori!"

-x-

**Tuesday**

The weekend turned out nothing like how I expected, but I was ok with that. The last few mornings were the happiest I'd seen Tori in a long time, it was nice to see.

I walk into the main hall, at lunchtime looking for Tori. She's not here, I frown. I make my way to my locker instead.

"Hey Jade, guess what?" Trina comes up out of nowhere.

"What Trina?"

"I have a exclusive clip from my new movie that I'm shooting. I thought you might want to have a look!" She brags waving her phone around.

"This isn't going to be like that stupid Spanish show is it?" I groan, remembering the stupid costume I was forced into.

Trina sighs impatiently "No Jade, jeez will you just look." Shoving the phone in my face. I pull my head back a bit so I can actually see.

The scene opens up on Trina in her fighting stance. It seems she's about to be kidnapped by a group of burly men.

"Are you going to fight those guys?" I say sceptically.

"Sshhh watch it!" She slaps my shoulder.

I continue to watch, Trina does end up kicking the crap out of the three men, but doesn't see a hidden forth, who ultimately captures her. The video clip ends.

"Is that the end of the movie?" I say in a bored tone "You getting kidnapped."

"No Jade!" She's whines "I wanted show you, because I'm doing all my own stunts in the movie!"

"Oh really?" I say rather surprised "that was all you?"

"Yep!" She says rather proud.

"Good for you." I say turning back to my locker.

"Yep, 'The Princess Strikes Back' is going to be the hit movie of the summer!" She says bragging again.

"Yeah, ok!" I scoff.

"It will be, just wait and see. And you should be really super nice too me!"

"And whys that?" I say pretending to be super interested.

"Because when it's a hit, and it will be, there are going to be a lot of events and parties that I'll be going too. And if you're super nice too me, I'll get you in!" She says in her most annoying sweet voice.

I go to say something kind of rude, when I see Tori running down the hall to the Janitors closest, crying. An extremely upset looking Cat is running after her. Trina and I immediately run over, too see what's wrong.

"Cat what happened?" I ask forcefully.

"I'm not really sure. We were walking out to lunch, when Lola stopped her. She said something really strange to Tori." Cat says looking at the Janitors closest door.

Trina looks at me, looking extremely worried. She goes to open the door. Tori's locked it.

"Tori, open the door! It's Trina" she says, while trying to force the door opened.

"Cat, what did Lola say?" I ask her.

"Jade, it was weird. She says that she knows Tori's secret. And that she's going to tell everyone." Cat says looking rather confused.

Trina immediately stops trying to get through the door and turns too me, looking white as anything.

The next thing we know, one of Lola's clones comes running frantically down the hallway. I think her name was Ella. The only one of the trio with any kind of talent.

"Jade, she knows about Tori. She's going at to the Asphalt Café to announce it, too everyone." She pants.

"Why are telling me this?" I demand.

"I have nothing against Tori, I'm only friends with that demented beast because my father works for her father. We have too be friends. Jade you have to stop her." She looked extremely worried.

"How the hell did she find out?" I scream.

"Her dad, he has a lot of information at his disposal." She says. '_OMG, Bob Miles, you fucking arsehole!_' I think. I had to stop her.

"Cat, go get Lane. Tell him exactly what you told me and then bring him here and try to get Tori out. Trina and I will take care of Lola. Ella take care of the other clone." I order.

Ella takes off down the hall, so does Cat.

"Get her and take her to the Black Box. I have an idea." Trina says "Just keep her talking."

I nod, and run off in the direction of the café. After about a minute, I see her. Ella has separated the other clone from Lola. Lola's about to climb the stairs up to the top platform. I get to her just before she takes the second stair.

"No you don't!" I say gruffly. I grab her pony tail again and drag her back inside.

"Oowww! Let me go!" She screams. I let go, but only to grab the upper part of her arm. I pull her into the Black Box and I push her onto the floor.

"Oh you're going to pay for that West!" She threatens, standing up.

"Why are you doing this?" I ask demand.

"Doing what? Telling your little girlfriends secret?" She says in a mock sweet voice.

"What the hell did Tori ever do to you?" I scream at her.

"We don't need freaks like her around here!" She hollers back.

"What the hell do you have against gays? Fuck! It's not like it's affecting you in anyway Lola, just leave her alone." I yell.

"Oh, like you can talk. You tortured her for ages, and then suddenly you guys a friends! What the fucks with that?" She yells back.

"What has that got to do with anything?" I roar "I have never cared that Tori's gay and I would have never thrown that in her face."

"Oh so I'm the bad one here!" She crosses her arms. I look at her exasperated.

"What is wrong with you? Your trying to destroy someone's life because they're gay. None of that seems wrong to you?"

"Why should it? Gays are just repulsive mark on today's society and it's our job as _normal _people, to stamp it out." She says smugly.

I wanted to hit her so bad right now but I control myself.

"Stamp it out?" I could not believe what I was hearing "Is this coming from you or your father?"

"Daddy has nothing to do with this?" She fires back.

"Oh really? Then please enlighten me on how you found out about Tori?" I say "It's not like you have access to confidential government files."

She has a smug smile on her face "Well, daddy is a senator!"

"Are you telling me he leaked information about Tori Vega to you?" I say rather shocked.

"Ha, not Tori Vega... Victoria García. I know everything about her and I plan on spilling her little secret to everyone." She replies happily.

"What is this going to prove Lola?"

"It's going to prove that I always will have the upper hand, Jade. You and your family will never get the best of me and my family."

"This is some kind of act to hurt me?" I say shocked.

"Ha, finally catching on. I know you've become one of them." She spits disgustedly.

"Did Lane not get through to you? You've been back to school for like 3 hours and you're already trying to destroy somebody!" I yell "and your father is helping you. What kind of sick people are you?"

"We are just doing what's right!" She says seemly unfazed by the severity of what she's going to do.

"What's right?!" I scream. She suddenly gets all serious.

"Jade, we will rid this world of these freaks. And the world can go back too how it should be."

"Do you not know how much trouble you and your father are going to be in?"

"Please nobody would ever believe that Daddy let me have access to government files." She grins triumphantly "and all I'll have to say is, I over heard little miss gay talking about it. Who's ever going to believe you?" She throws her head back laughing.

"Well I'd say a lot of people will believe her!" I look up and see Trina standing on the catwalk above us. She's holding out her cellphone, recording.

Lola looks shocked "You were recording?"

"Yep! I got everything and I believe my dad, Detective David Vega, is going to have a field day with this." Trina starts to climb down. She walks over to Lola, who is now looking extremely frightened.

"Never fuck with my little sister again. Or I'll make sure Jade's threat comes true." She says rather scarily.

Lola pushes Trina out of the way and runs towards the door, only to be stopped when Lane walks through it. She starts crying.

"Lane, thank god. Jade tried to attack me with her scissors!" She screams hysterically.

"What!" I yell.

"And Trina held me down!" Continuing the sob act.

"Jesus Christ, do you hear this shit?" Trina says to me.

"Trina give your phone." I say grabbing it out of her hand. I walk over to Lane.

"Here, watch this." Pushing Lola out of the way so she couldn't take the phone. Lane watches the video, his face hardening with anger.

"Miss Miles, my office. Now!"

"Lane, no, you don't understand..." She pleads.

"NOW!" I yells. She leaves quietly.

"Trina please call your father and have him come to my office, make sure he brings that phone." He turns to leave "and Jade, I believe you know other ways into the Janitors closest, could you please go get Tori out?" I nod and walk off towards the library.

-x-

I fall into bed, beside a sleeping Tori. I look at her, her eyes were still puffy from crying. Once I managed to get into the Janitors closet, it took me a while to calm her down. I couldn't blame her for being that upset. What Lola planned on doing was down right horrible and ultimately had her expelled from school. After David arrived and saw the video, he assured us that Senator Miles would also be in big trouble.

I roll over and place my arm around Tori's waist. My eyelids are becoming extremely heavy, I drift off into a deep sleep.

_I find myself walking through a giant field, the rolling plains seem to go on forever. I look around, there are beautiful flowers everywhere. It's so bright, the sun beams seem to dance all around the place. It's warm and inviting, so peaceful. I look down, I'm wearing a long, white, flowy dress, '__**that's odd**__' I think. I stroll around this foreign place, not a place I'd would normally find comforting, but it was strangely inviting. I see a pebble path, winding around the hill, in the distance. I get an overwhelming feeling to follow it. I start walking up the path, it takes forever or maybe no time at all, time doesn't seem to exist here. The path starts to end at the very top of the hill. The flowers seem to be more beautiful here, they sparkle in the sun, like a thousand gleaming jewels. _

_At the very top of the hill, there stands a young women in a long, white, flowy dress, much like the one I was wearing. She seems very familiar, although I could not see her face. Her long, beautiful brown hair blows hypnotically in the warm breeze. I finally reach her. She turns to me. _

_'__**Tori?**__' I think. No, this can't be Tori. I take a closer look, there are subtle differences. This women is older then Tori._

_"Rosa?" I ask. She beams at me. Her smile is so bright, her whole face seems to illuminate happiness. She holds out her arms and wiggles her fingers._

_I smirk at her "I'm guessing you're a hugger too?" She giggles and nods her head. Before I can do anything else, she grabs my shoulders and pulls me into a hug. She holds me tight, it's so warm and uplifting. She pulls back and holds me at arms length, her eyes seemly searching my face._

_"You have grown up a lot Jade." Her Spanish accent present in her words, I feel she wasn't just talking about my age or appearance. I nod at her, understanding what she meant. _

_"Where are we?" I ask. She smiles again. The place looks so peaceful, almost like..._

_"Wait... I'm not dead, am I?" I ask worriedly. She starts to laugh._

_"Of course not. Heaven is even more beautiful." Her melodic tone washes over me, calming me instantly. I wonder what could be more beautiful than this place._

_"We are just in a dreamworld." She say dreamily._

_"Are you real?" I ask._

_She just smiles, she walks over and sits on a park bench. I frown, I swear that wasn't there before. She gestures me to come sit with her. _

_Once I have sat down, I ask her a different question, wondering if she was going to answer this one._

_"How come I'm here?" _

_"I wanted to thank you." I look at her, and tilt my head questioningly._

_"Jade, you may not realise it but you have played the biggest part in healing my baby." She smiles once more "and for that I will be eternally grateful."_

_"I know it took a long time for you two to be friends, but I can see the love you have for my Tori. It simply radiates from you." _

_I look down expecting to see some kind of light coming out of me. She begins to laugh. I laugh too, I honestly wouldn't have been surprised if there had been._

_"Do you know about Tori and I?" I ask._

_"Yes" she replies simply._

_"Are you ok with... Us?" I ask hesitantly. She gives me a long, hard look, like she was seeing right through me. _

_"You have an odd soul Jade" I raise an eyebrow at her statement, but she continues on "Your soul has a very dark exterior, but when looked beyond, all that is seen is gold."_

_"You are a natural protector, a warrior. There is nothing that could defeat you, for you will stand against whatever danger until the very end." I sit there in rapt silence, this woman was reading my soul._

_"Anyone you vow to protect, should feel privileged because you love just as hard as you fight." She pauses and smiles her beaming smile "I could never have wished for anyone better to love my daughter."_

_I smile so big, a warm wave of happiness spreads through my body. _

_"Thank you. That means everything too me." I say gratefully. She continues to beam._

_"Although, you worry me with your twisted sense of humour" She adds as an afterthought._

_I start to laugh. I wondered how she knows this. _

_"I will do anything to protect Tori. I will always be have my word." I say becoming more serious. _

_"I know you will Jade." She says with a knowing smile. I wonder what exactly it is she knows._

_We fall quiet, taking in our surroundings. _

_"Aunty Prue misses you a lot." I say after a while._

_Rosa smiles sadly "I know. Your Aunt was the greatest friend I could have ever wished for. Even though my life was cut short, it was made great because of your Aunt. She loved me unconditionally, even when her family told her not too."_

_There was something else behind her words._

_"Were you and her in love?" I ask quietly._

_Her sad smile remained, but she did not answer._

_"Thank you for bringing her back into Tori's life." She says instead._

_"You're welcome."_

_"The Vega's have done an amazing job raising my baby. She is very loved in that family." She says happily._

_"I always wonder how Tori was the only one with talent." I say thoughtfully._

_She throws her beautiful head back laughing "Jade, you don't give Trina enough credit. She will make something of herself." I look at her rather surprised "She won't be a singer, but you know, she has other strengths."_

_Rosa's sense of humour is much like Tori's. I find myself laughing again. I felt so at ease with her. Just like how I feel when I'm with Tori._

_"Tori says you are a singer?" _

_"I am." She smiles, pulling me back in for another tight hug. It's even my warm and uplifting than the previous one. _

_"Never stray from who you are and who you love, Jade, it is your path to the most fulfilling life" _

_She pulls back, she begins to sing. The sound is so beautiful, like nothing I'd have ever heard. It made me feel safe and happy. She looks at me and waves. Everything starts to become very bright, her voice starts to fade away. Everything is gone._

I wake up, my eyes slowly open to see the sun of a new day peering through the window. I feel so warm and peaceful. I look over and see Tori still sleeping next to me. She slept the whole night through without a nightmare. I smile, she looks as peaceful as I feel. I'm not sure if my dream was a dream or something else entirely. But it didn't matter, I met Tori's mum and she was amazing, just like her daughter. I look at Tori again '_she really has made you soft Jade_' I think to myself. I smile at that thought, because I'd do anything for her. She sees beyond my hard exterior, to see the secret softy that lives beneath. I'm now very glad she worked so hard to be my friend.

Tori starts to stir, she starts stretching out and groaning. Her arm stretches past my face.

"Are you right there?"

"Yep!" She says happily.

"How'd you sleep?" She finally settles her arms back around my waist.

"Wonderfully. I had an amazing dream."

"Yeah, what about?"

"I was sitting in a beautiful field of flowers, and Mamá was sitting beside me. She was singing too me. It was so beautiful, just like I remember it. I felt so peaceful." She says. She looks so happy, like cloud nine could suddenly float away with her on it.

"Wow, that sounds amazing." I say back to her. Maybe it wasn't a dream after all. She cuddles closer, and let's out a sigh of content. After a while, Tori begins to talk again.

"I think I'm going to tell the group about my past."

I at her, a little surprised "Really?"

"Yeah, I'm not sure when yet. But I feel I'm ready too, I'll tell them, at least some of it."

"I'll be there we you feel the time is right." I take her hand.

She beams at me and leans in and kisses me softly.

"Thank you Jade, I don't know what I'd do without you." She says lovingly.

I smile back at her, I honestly don't know what I'd do without her either.

**THE END**

-x-

**Author's notes- I'm unsure if my story needs an epilogue. If you guys want one, I shall write one. Thanks for reading! **


	2. Epilogue

**6 years later...**

Things have definitely changed over the last six years since that day at Hollywood Arts. Tori never spoke much about the things that Lola did and said to her, but her two clones were more than happy to rat her out. Turns out Lola had not only been making threats against Tori, trying to make Tori leave Hollywood Arts but against the whole Vega family. Threatening that her father could do away with Holly and David's jobs, if she didn't leave, all because she was gay. Lola was not only expelled from Hollywood Arts but also later arrested and charged with harassment and blackmail. She got 5 years in jail. As for her father, David discovered that he had also been siphoning money from his business investors and was placing it into an offshore account. He had been doing a lot of illegal things while in office. He was made to pay back every cent and was charged with eight different offences. He was jailed for 25 years, no parole. Last I heard, he's now somebody's 'girlfriend'.

Tori began to become more at ease with herself again, once she did, the nightmares stop completely. About two weeks after Lola was expelled, Tori decided to tell everybody in the group about her past.

_"Are you sure you're ready?" I ask her._

_She takes a deep breath and nods nervously "I am, I know they won't care that I'm adopted. But it still doesn't make this any easier."_

_"Tori, you're going to be fine. I'm going to be right here the whole time." I smile at reassuringly._

_"And so will I!" Trina says as she burst into the room "You may annoy me most of the time, Tori. But you will always be my little sister, blood or not."_

_Tori beamed at us "You guys are going to make me cry."_

_"Don't do that yet, you'll have plenty of time for that later." I say. *door bell_

_I go downstairs to open the door, while Trina gives Tori a last minute pep talk._

_"Hey guys." I say as I let them in. _

_"So we're finally going to find out what's going on between you and Tori." Beck says._

_"Maybe." I shrug "go sit." I say pointing to the couch. He looks at me with a raised eyebrow but goes and sits with the others._

_Tori comes down with Trina. She sits beside me. She begins to tell them truth, the reason she had been acting weird lately. I held her hand the whole time, Trina stood behind, leaving her reassuring hands on her shoulders. _

_To say everybody was shocked, would be an understatement. Cat was reduced to tears, Robbie and Beck were just speechless and Andre walk up to his best friend and hug her so hard it reduced her to tears too. None of them could believe that all of this had happened and that Lola tried to blackmail her with it._

_"I'd like to get my hands on her" Rex pipes up angrily. We all looked at him surprised, he doesn't normally show anger in favour for somebody else._

_"What? Nobody gets to mess with my cheekbones and get away with it." He defends himself._

_I clear my throat "Well puppet, as heroic as that is, she my cheekbones now." Everybody's faces again, turns to shock._

_"I knew it!" Beck says smugly._

_"Sure you did." I roll my eyes._

_The rest of the afternoon went on as if nothing had changed. Tori felt so happy that her friends accepted her completely. _

It wasn't long after that, that Trina graduated and the rest of us become seniors. During that summer, Trina's movie came out and I hate to admit but she actually did a good job. 'The Princess Strikes Back' actually was a hit and then followed by an even more successful sequel 'The Princess Strikes Back Again'. The movies launched Trina's career in action movies, although we made her take a few more acting classes, just to be sure. She's gotten better over the years, and has even nominated for an oscar. Which surprised the hell out of all of us. Things even finally worked out for her terrible love life. After Benji decided to move back to LA, he spend most of his time at Tori's. He and Trina became very close one afternoon when she asked him to run lines with her. Two years later, they were married. Trina's expecting there first child in a few months. Holly and David are over the moon.

After Bob Miles's very public arrest, David was promoted to Sergeant. Nothing could have made David happier than to see Bob Miles jailed. Apparently, he had been working on a case to bring down the corrupt senator for years but never had enough proof to issue a warrant to search his offices. That was until, Trina handed him the video of Lola basically confessing to his some of his corrupt ways. That night, David and his officers stormed Bob's office and found him trying to shred some of the incriminating files. But it was too late, Bob's entire staff took a plea bargain, to testify against him. More than 100 people testified against him. The case went down in LAPD history. Not only that, Holly brought him to justice for illegally exposing confidential information to non government official. The judge was so mortified that Bob would give his daughter confidential information to blackmail a fellow student, just because of her sexuality, that he made sure Tori was awarded a very hefty pay out.

Mum was pretty pissed when she found out where her money was going but then when she found out what he did to Tori and Aunty Prue, she was down right livid. When she found out what went down, she canceled the rest of her business trip and flew home immediately. When she arrived at the Vega's house, she burst into the house before grabbing both Tori and I and pulling us into a massive hug. She was so mad about what happened, the only thing that seemed to calm her, was when we told her that we were officially dating. She positively shrieked with happiness before pulling us into another bone crushing hug.

She paid old Bob a visit about a month after he was jailed. I'm not sure what went down, but David said when mum left the room, the guards found Bob on the ground in the fetal position, crying. There was no physical harm done to him that they could find but he was so terrified that he didn't eat for a week. Whenever I asked her what happened she always responded "Justice!".

My Aunt was just as happy to see the back end of Bob Miles. Having Tori back in her life seemed to bring sprites back to life after so many years apart. She decided to put some of the West's money to good use and created a new recording label. She called 'The Rosa Gracía Dream'. Tori was the first to be signed. Tori has since became a very successful recording artist, in both the Latin and English speaking communities. She has won 3 Grammys and tours all over the world.

As for me, as much as I love singing, pursued a career in writing. I managed to become a screen writer, thanks to Trina, on Trina's last film. It was so well received, I'm now lined up for 5 new movies.

Tori and I have been together for the past six years, although we've had some ups and downs, I could not ever imagine life without her. Which brings me too tonight. I'm sitting in my office, at the house Tori and I own. I just finished my latest edit on the new script I was working on. I yawn and stretch out, it's 1am. My eyes fall onto two picture frames sitting beside my computer. Both pictures are of Tori and I, one picture was taken a year ago and the other is the first one ever taken of us. It was the same picture I found in the box of clothes years ago. It was the first time we met, and I think I like that story better than the one where I poured coffee all over her. I smirk to myself, I open my desk drawer and pull out a small blue box. I open it, inside is a beautiful diamond engagement ring. I planned to propose to Tori soon. I'm not sure why I've held off for so long. I asked for David and Holly's permission a few weeks ago. But something didn't feel right yet. I close the box and put it back in the drawer. I get and yawn again, I decide to go to bed. I go upstairs to find Tori sound asleep, I crawl in beside her and fall asleep instantly.

_I open my eyes, to find myself in a familiar place. It's a giant field, with rolling green plains and beautiful flowers. I look down to see myself again in a white, flowy, dress. I smile, knowing exactly why I'm here. I look around for the hill with the pebble path, I spot it off in the distance. I start to follow it again. Once I reach the top, I'm presented with a familiar sight. Rosa, is standing at the top of the hill, her hair blowing in the warm breeze. She turns to me and smiles her bright smile. This time I hold out my arms and wiggle my fingers. She looks shocked, if only for a second, before laughing and hugging me very tightly. It was the same warm and uplifting feeling I remembered._

_She pulls back "Hello Jade." _

_"Hi Rosa." I smile back at her._

_"It's lovely too see you again. But Jade, must ask you a question, why am I here?" She looks at me quizzically._

_It seems it was me that brought Rosa here this time, as soon as I opened my eyes here, I knew what had been bothering me._

_"I need to ask you a question?" She raises her eyebrows and gestures me to sit on the park bench. I frown once again, I swear that wasn't there before. We sit and she looks at me expectantly._

_I take a deep breath "I love Tori so much. Even when she gets on my nerves and gets into those happy, bubbly moods she has." She laughs at me._

_"She's become the most important person in my life and I couldn't even think of spending my life without her. I want you to know I'm going to take care of her for the rest of my life. So, I wanted to ask permission for her hand in marriage?" I finish._

_Her eyes begin to well up with tears "This is why you've held off for so long. You wanted to ask me?" _

_"How did you know I was holding off?" I frown at her. She just smiles at me._

_"I know a lot of things Jade."_

_I shake my head '__**of course she does, she's an angel!**__' I think. _

_"Yes, I guess that is the reason I held off. I know you said before that you were ok with us, but marriage is different to dating. I think I just need to be sure it is ok with you."_

_Beautiful, sparkly tears begin to slide down her face, they almost looked like diamonds._

_"Of course it's ok. I couldn't have picked anyone else more perfect for Tori." She cries._

_I beam from ear to ear. _

_"Thank you Rosa." She hugs me again._

_"You's two are going to look so beautiful on the day." She says as if she can already see us. I have a feeling she could._

_"Please, thank Holly and your mum for the support they going to give Tori, the day she picks out her dress. She's going to be very upset that day." Holds my hands "but I'll be there, watching."_

_"I will, I promise."_

_"I'll be always watching, and when you see the rainbow on your wedding day, please know that's me." She smiles. I nod at her, I happy feeling washing over me, knowing that this day is going to happen, I'm going to marry Tori Vega._

_All of a sudden, it becomes very bright. Rosa faces starts to fade, her voice echoes all around me._

_"Thank you Jade, remember, I'll be watching!" _

_Everything is gone._

I wake up and see the sun beam through the window. A familiar peaceful feeling remains inside me. I look over and see Tori sound asleep. Her hair is everywhere and she has pillow creases on her face but she's never look more beautiful. I slide out of bed and head down to the kitchen. I start to make her breakfast, honeycomb pancakes. I set it out on a tray, but before I go wake her I run off into the office, to grab a small blue box.

I walk upstairs and find Tori awake checking her phone.

"Good morning" I say.

She looks at me surprised, she raises her eyebrows at the sight of me bringing her breakfast in bed. "Good morning. And what pleasure do I owe for breakfast in bed?"

"I don't know, I felt like doing something nice this morning." I smirk as I set the tray down on the bedside table.

"That's so unlike you Jade." She laughs.

"Hey I resent that." She continues to laugh and leans forward and kisses me. The eruption of feelings I got all those years ago are still there.

"Well, this all looks delicious." She says looking at the food "thank you."

"There is one thing I wanted to talk to you about." I begin.

"Hm?" She looks up.

"You know how much I love you right" she nods "and well, I know with our busy schedules, we're not always together. But I want you to know, that I'll always be here for you no matter what happens. Which is why" I pull out the blue box and get down on blended knee.

"Victoria Gracía Vega, will you marry me?" I say opening the box. She looks just as shocked as she did when I first told her I liked her.

"Are you serious?" I nod at her.

"YES!" She yells making me jump. "A million times yes!" She jumps out of bed tackling me to the ground.

"So just to be clear, you're saying yes!" I laugh.

She slaps me on the arm "Yes, of course I'm saying yes." She beams as I put the ring on her finger.

"Oh Jade it's so beautiful." She says admiring her ring. She looks more happy then I'd ever seen her.

"You're beautiful" I say softly.

"God, when did you turn into such a mush." She laughs.

"About the same time you got me to start liking you." I reply back with a smirk.

"Well, aren't I glad I worked so hard to become your friend." She leans in and kisses me once more.

"I'm pretty glad too." I smile.


End file.
